In my previously issued U.S. Pat. No. 3,716,974 entitled, "HARVESTING ATTACHMENT FOR COMBINES", a stalk engaging and lifting structure is disclosed which is particularly effective to cope with the problem of harvesting low lying crops, such as, soybeans. That apparatus utilizes pairs of inclined gripping wheels having a crop gripping area between them so disposed as to lift stalks out of the group a predetermined height which will ensure that low lying pods or fruit bearing leaves will be harvested. This is accomplished by utilizing the rotating gripping wheels to lift crop stalks to a predetermined height where the lowest pods will be above the combine cutting blade and thus severed from the plant roots while still being held by the gripping wheels. The gripping wheels then convey the severed stalks rearwardly onto a receiving platform for lateral movement by an auger or other conveying device. In addition to the prior art patents cited in the above noted patent, U.S. Pat. No. 2,949,716 issued to E. Thomson on Aug. 23, 1960 is directed to a harvesting machine for row crops utilizing pairs of flexible, rotary cylinders to engage crop stalks. However, the long, high rotary pickup cylinders of Thomson would not be effective to engage and lift low lying vine crops such as soy beans. Also, interlocked vines and stalks of certain kinds of row crops, notably soybeans, would become caught and entangled on the exposed, elevated gripping cylinders disclosed by Thomson and on the overhead support apparatus for these cylinders.
A further problem encountered on crop harvesters of the type disclosed in the aforesaid patents is that the harvested crop stalks are sometimes caught by the revolving pickup wheels or other rotating pickup devices as the stalks are being conveyed transversely of a receiving platform by an auger or other conveyor means. As a result, the crop product is carried back off of the receiving platform and thrown on the ground. In addition to the undesirable crop loss, this problem also causes the rotating pickup members to become entangled with crop stalks and vines.
The harvesting apparatus disclosed herein represents an improvement in the gripping wheel crop harvester of my U.S. Pat. No. 3,716,974. In particular, the aforesaid problems are overcome by an improved arrangement of mounting and drive means for rotary, crop gripping members and by the use of shields and baffles in a particularly effective way in conjunction therewith.